Pentagon

Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper assured DOD staff in a Pentagon memo Monday that despite last week’s sudden departure of former acting agency chief Patrick Shanahan, the department will stay its course, The Hill reported. Esper, previously Secretary of the Army, emphasized the administration’s National Security Strategy as the agency’s path forward, according to the report.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) endorsed Acting Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist Tuesday to become the next permanent deputy defense secretary, according to CQ. “I’m very strongly in support of Norquist,” Inhofe told the outlet. “I’ve had a chance to talk to the president about Norquist,” he said. Norquist became acting deputy defense

The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump is formally nominating Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan to become the Pentagon’s chief. Shanahan, who has held the position on an interim basis since December, was recently cleared in a Pentagon inspector general’s report investigating whether he had shown preference for his former employer Boeing. “Based

A DOD inspector general’s report reviewing whether Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has shown favor toward his former employer Boeing is expected to be completed by the end of the week, according to a CNN report. The investigation is examining if Shanahan violated his DOD ethics agreement by expressing preference for Boeing products in his

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday endorsed several of President Obama’s nominees for senior Pentagon posts, including Frank Kendall III to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and Erin Conaton to fill DOD’s top personnel and readiness post. Kendall, currently the acting undersecretary for the post, would fill the vacancy created when Ashton Carter was sworn in as deputy defense secretary in October. Starting in March 2010, Kendall served as the principal deputy undersecretary for the department, which is responsible for overseeing DOD’s installations and environment office. Conaton would become undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness; she currently is undersecretary of the Air Force. Conaton would replace Clifford Stanley, who resigned in November after coming under investigation by the department’s inspector general following multiple complaints of mismanagement. Conaton would serve as the senior policy advisor to the defense secretary on recruitment, career development, pay and benefits, health affairs, and quality-of-life programs for troops and their families. The candidates still need to be confirmed by the Senate …